The present invention relates to headwall units used for training nurses and other persons involved in patient care. Headwall units are typically located in patient care rooms in hospitals, nursing homes, and the like.
A variety of headwalls exist in the prior art, as seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,753,055, 4,338,485, and 3,462,892. Each of the headwalls described in these patents is a fully functioning headwall designed for use with actual patients in a patient care room. A typical headwall is placed near a patient's bed, and contains light, electricity, and medical gas outlets. These medical gas outlets may provide a variety of gases, including oxygen, nitrous oxide, or air, and may also provide a vacuum outlet. Secondary equipment may be attached to the vacuum or gas outlets in the headwall for use in patient care. If a patient needs vacuum or a particular gas the patient care provider simply removes the cover of the appropriate medical gas outlet, and attaches the needed secondary equipment, such as, a vacuum regulator, or a flow meter, to the outlet
The gases arrive at each patient's headwall via pipes that are attached to central compressors, and the vacuum arrives at each headwall via pipes that are attached to a central pump. The compressors and pumps are typically located remotely from the patients' beds, frequently in the basement.
When health care providers are being trained in patient care they need to practice manipulating headwalls, medical gas outlets, and secondary medical equipment so that they will be able to respond appropriately when providing care to actual patients. The current invention describes training headwalls that are not used with actual patients, and therefore are not attached to central compressors or pumps. Instead, the training headwalls contain a small vacuum pump and compressor to simulate gas flow through medical gas outlets.